Our workplaces are not immune tothe hate speech and extremism spreading in our communities – we cannot always prevent it, but we can recognise it, oppose it, and play our part helping our workmates to feel safe and supported. Unions have strong weapons to combat hate speech and extremism - solidarity, trust, and of course, our union reps and activists.
The TUC is committed to building collective power through unions and members. As part of their anti-far right strategy, they have developed a suite of free resources with the TUC Education and Equality teams to strengthen solidarity and equip reps, members, and activists to tackle the rise of the far-right in workplaces and communities. These resources include:
- Talking Solidarity (new online guide): practical tips to help reps handle tough conversations, defuse division, and unite people around the values we share. Although some of the topics are UK based, others such as immigration, cost of living, insecure work and inequality are universal. These resources help you to identify what these issues might sound like in your workplace, how to understand and address the issues, and how to get your colleagues involved in making connections.
- Tackling the Far-Right (updated guide): a powerful resource to help activists spot and stand up to far-right activity, using solidarity and trust as our strongest tools. Topics cover why far-right views and union values do not mix, how to recognise the tactics used, how to counter extremism influence in the workplace, and how to talk about it.
You can find these resources and information about how to handle difficult conversations on the TUC Anti-far right page.
Our workplaces are supposed to be safe places – when division and hate become another thing to worry about at work, we must stand up and support each other. HSRs are in a strong position to monitor and measure the psychosocial climate of our workplaces and hold our employers accountable to work with us to ensure that we all feel safe at work.
VTHC’s Victorian Labour College offers Safe Respectful Workplaces and Bystander Action Training to give union members the skills and confidence to safely and effectively stand together against unsafe behaviours in the workplace. When we step in to support each other, we make our workplaces safer and stronger.
Read more: Fighting division with solidarity - New TUC resources | TUC